June 26, 2025 • 24 mins
🎙️ Midlife Mayhem Show Notes: Zonulin & Leaky Gut — Why You Can’t Not Be Affected
📆 Tight28 starts July 6–August 2! Enjoy your gluten-filled 4th of July… then join us for 28 days of discovery, education, and possibly the biggest physical and mental relief you didn’t know you needed. 👉 Tight28.com
🔬 Episode Topic: Zonulin – The Gatekeeper of Your Gut (And Why You’re Not Immune)In today’s episode, we’re getting real about zonulin—what it is, what it does, and why it might be quietly wrecking your health (yes, even if you feel “fine”).
Unlike a food sensitivity (which affects some), zonulin affects everyone. It’s not subjective. It’s not up for debate. And it might just be turning your digestive system into a fishnet factory.
🧠What You’ll Learn:-
What is zonulin? A protein made in the small intestine that controls your gut’s tight junctions (think: gatekeeper).
-
Cheesecloth vs. Fishnet Stockings Analogy A visual breakdown of what a healthy gut lining should be doing… and what happens when zonulin is chronically elevated.
-
The Origin Story Discovered by Dr. Alessio Fasano (Italian gastroenterologist), zonulin was the missing link in how gluten triggers immune responses, even in non-celiacs.
-
Why It’s a Universal Problem Zonulin loosens your gut lining in everybody, not just those with gluten sensitivity. When that lining opens too wide, stuff gets into your blood that shouldn’t. Your immune system freaks out. Cue: inflammation, fatigue, mood swings, brain fog, skin issues, and more.
-
Enter LPS (Lipopolysaccharides) When zonulin opens the gates, LPS—an inflammatory toxin from normal gut bacteria—sneaks in. It’s been linked to insulin resistance, autoimmune conditions, and chronic fatigue.
-
Zonulin Triggers
-
Gluten (especially gliadin)
-
Bacterial overgrowth (E. coli, salmonella, SIBO)
-
Toxins & inflammation
-
-
Why the Body Even Makes Zonulin It’s a defense mechanism—but it backfires when activated daily by diet. Occasional gluten = recoverable. Daily gluten = chronic gut permeability.
-
Kevin’s Case Study Gluten out, inflammation gone. Kevin lost 15 lbs in 10 days—pure inflammation and water. Not fat. Just normalized gut havoc.
Yes.
-
Stool Test (GI Map, Doctor’s Data): Measures zonulin in the gut
-
Blood Test (Serum Zonulin): Measures zonulin that’s leaked into the bloodstream—often high in autoimmune or chronically inflamed individuals
-
Zonulin ≠Sensitivity. It’s a biological mechanism. It works the same in everyone.
-
Gluten increases zonulin. Period. Doesn’t matter if you “feel fine”—your gut lining is still impacted.
-
This is reversible. Remove the irritants, and the results are often shockingly fast.
Join me for Tight28 (July 6–August 2) We dive into:
-
Food reactivity
-
Histamine & inflammation
-
Gut-brain-skin connections
-
How to feel actually better—without going full-on monk mode
👉 Tight28.com Let’s clean up your gut without a “cleanse.” Just smart, scientific education with a side of sass. 🎯
📣 Final Thoughts:If you eat gluten regularly and think you're unaffected—you're not. Zonulin guarantees it. And you can feel better than you do right now.
🎧 Listen. Learn. Question Everything. That’s Midlife Mayhem.
đź”— Tight28.com | Starts July 6 #MidlifeMayhem #Tight28 #GutHealth #Zonulin #FoodSensitivities #BodyComposition #Inflammation #GlutenFacts #LeakyGut #LPS #GlutenFreeCurious #MidlifeStrong
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:10):
Hey there, listeners.
I am Joanne Lee Cornish, your Truth Bomb Dropper in the world of weight loss, body composition, and mastering the art of rocking the body you've always deserved and dreamed of in midlife and beyond.
Let's cut through the noise.
Society tells us it's downhill from now on.
We're told to embrace the middle age weight gain, embrace the muscle loss, and poor health.
(00:36):
If that's your vibe, then cool.
But if you're ready to defy the narrative, then I am your gal.
This podcast is.
A No Fluff podcast where we break down the essential truths of body composition, toss around some practical tips, and dissect the latest trends.
I'm not here to sugarcoat.
I'm here to show you what's not just possible, but down, out probable for you.
(01:02):
If you enjoy this content, be sure to click the link in the show notes to explore how we can team up and kick Medioc to the curb.
I offer one-on-one coaching my ever popular group coaching programs and my corporate Educate to Elevate program.
Okay, let's get on with the podcast.
Enjoy.
(01:26):
Welcome, welcome to Midlife Mayhem.
Today I want to talk about zonulin with reference to gluten, and I just want to separate.
The confusion between zonulin and a food sensitivity or somebody that's sensitive to gluten, because the reality is zonulin affects everybody.
(01:48):
Whereas gluten does not necessarily affect everyone.
So what on earth is zonulin? So zonulin is a protein, it's made in the small intestine and its job is, it acts as the gatekeeper to our gut lining.
It controls the tight junctions, which are the little seals between the cells of our intestinal wall.
(02:13):
Think about your gut, like a think of your gut lining, like a high security fence.
It's lets nutrients through, but it keeps bacteria, toxins, undigested particles out.
Let's think of a different analogy.
Think of your gut lining, like cheesecloth.
(02:35):
If you pour something over cheesecloth, not everything is gonna get through.
Yeah.
So think of cheesecloth.
These are the tight junctions of your gut lining.
So think about your gut lining.
It separates your intestines with your blood.
So whatever gets through the cheesecloth, whatever gets through your gut lining is going to enter the blood.
(03:02):
So when your gut lining is like cheesecloth.
Then not much enters the blood.
Everything, it drains through big particles are kept in the cheesecake.
The cheesecake, my gosh.
In the cheese cloth.
Only things that have be are so small, have been so digested.
Would actually get through the cheese cloth.
(03:23):
Yeah.
Would get, and therefore get into the, to the blood.
If your gut lining becomes like a pair of fishnet stockings, then everything is gonna get through this fishnet stockings, right? So think about food.
It doesn't have to be completely broken down, so with the cheese cheesecloth, you know this, using this analogy, food has to be completely broken down into the smallest possible form for it to get through the cheesecloth and into your blood.
(03:53):
If it's not fully broken down, it's not gonna get through.
The particle's gonna be too big.
But if your gut lining just turns into fishnet stockings, then when you eat, you don't re, the food doesn't have to be fully digested.
It doesn't have to be fully broken down to get through the fishnet stockings and into the blood.
And also because of those gaps, now you've got toxins and bacteria that should never get into your blood, and they're getting in there and there arises a lot of food sensitivities.
(04:22):
So what does this, what does it have to do with zonulin? Zonulin controls that tight junctions think about when zonulin is released, it opens up those junctions so it turns that cheese, clay, cheesecake, oh my God, I just said it again.
It turns that cheese cloth into fishnet stockings.
(04:42):
Is that analogy working? So it controls the type junctions and and it, it opens up those junctions.
So that's its job.
It's normal.
That's what it that does, that's okay when it is controlled.
But here's where it gets problematic.
When zonulin is chronically or excessively elevated, that gut lining, that barrier stays open too long and things that you, that cheese click turn turns into fishnet stockings.
(05:13):
And things that were never meant to enter your bloodstream start leaking through.
So this is what is referred to as leaky gut or more clinically it is called increased intestinal permeability.
Let's do a little backtrack.
'cause the history of zolin is quite fascinating.
So Zolin was discovered by a doctor, I hope I'm saying this right, CIO ano.
(05:39):
He was a gastroenterologist in the early two thousands Italian, I hope you call that.
And he was studying celiac disease and looking into how gluten triggered inflammation in the gut.
So what he found that G Gladin, which I'm gonna talk about this in the Type 28 program, but he found that G Gladin, which is a component of gluten and sets off celiac reactions, it triggers the release of zonulin.
(06:00):
So zonulin in turn opened the gut wall.
Allowing food, proteins and other antigens into the bloodstream, it turned the cheesecloth into.
Pair of fishnet stockings, and this was the missing leak link in how gluten triggers such widespread immune responses.
(06:22):
So when we talk about immune responses, what we're talking about here is.
So you've got your food, it's being digested.
It meets the cheese cloth and it has to be fully digested.
And anything that's fully digested passes through the cheese cloth and gets into the blood and off it goes.
It travels off to the liver.
If that cheese, the, now the food comes in and she intestines, and that cheese cloth is now fishnet stockings.
(06:47):
Now the food doesn't have to be fully digested and bacteria and toxins, everything can get through into the bloodstream.
And when it enters the bloodstream, there is an immune response because the immune system sees what's getting into the bloodstream and says, what on earth is this? This isn't meant to be here.
And it goes to fight because to battle for you.
(07:08):
And there, so there is an immune response.
So what this doctor, Elise Ano was trying to do, he was trying to figure out why gluten triggered such a widespread immune response.
And what he found was it was because gluten increased zonulin and zonulin.
(07:28):
Turned that cheese clock into fishnet stocking.
So it opened up those, some what are meant to be tight junctions of your gut lining and it opened them up Now.
Here's what he also found.
He found that zonulin isn't just activated by gluten, it can be stimulated by bacteria, tox, toxins, and inflammation.
(07:50):
Meaning that you don't have to have celiac or even a gluten issue to have a zonulin problem.
So that's a big deal, guys.
'cause when we hear about gluten sensitivity and some people say, oh, that doesn't affect me.
That's not me.
I'm perfectly good.
Gluten increases zonulin.
(08:12):
Zonulin isn't random.
Zonulin affects.
Everybody.
It's not that some people are prone to a food sensitivity of this sort or that sort, zonulin it by nature has this effect of opening up the tight junctions of the gut lining.
So you don't have to have a gluten issue to have an issue with zonulin.
(08:38):
So it's not a sensitivity, it's it's a universal mechanism.
This is important to understand that zonulin is not a sensitivity.
It's not like gluten or dairy or soy, where some people react and some don't.
Zonulin is a protein that functions the same way in every one.
When it is released, it loosens the gut lining period, and gluten increases zonulin, period.
(09:11):
It is not whether you feel it or not, the effect is biological.
It's not subjective.
Whether you're a bodybuilder, neuro agram, or a teenager.
When zonulin goes up, your intestinal barrier will become more permeable.
That's completely different to a food sensitivity, which involves, an individualized, personalized immune response.
(09:36):
Some people might be sensitive to eggs or some people might be sensitive to dairy, some might not.
But zonulin affects all humans in the same mechanical way.
It opens the gate and if you open, when you open the gut lining, turning it into, fishnet stockings.
Things will enter the blood that aren't meant to enter the blood.
(09:58):
And when that happens, you will have an immune response enter LPS.
So LPS is something that I haven't talked about before.
I'm gonna expand on it in the Type 28 program, which starts Jive sixth.
It's gonna be nice once I've finished my MasterStream with Life program.
I won't have to plug anything in any of these podcasts for a while, so bear with me.
(10:23):
So here's what is, here's we go we take things to the next level.
So when zonulin opens the gut barrier, one of the major offenders that can sneak into the bloodstream is LPS lipopolysaccharide.
LPS is a toxin released by gram negative bacteria.
(10:44):
So gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that normally live in your gut, totally normal in small amount, but when LPS crosses into your bloodstream, your immune system goes into full decon one mode.
It goes.
Off your immune system sees LPS as a foreign invader of the worst type, and it responds with massive inflammation, oxidative stress, and massive immune activation.
(11:18):
Even if you're not technically sick this is known as metabolic toxemia and it's linked to insulin resistance, chronic fatigue, brain fog, autoimmune flares, mood disorders, skin problems, and yes, gut systems of symptoms like bloating, gas, and cramps.
So while.
Zonulin isn't necessarily dangerous by itself.
(11:41):
It sets the stage for these bad actors like LPS get into places they shouldn't be.
LPS should not get into your blood.
In the Type 28 program, I talk about LPS with regards to body composition, but for now, just know it's the outer coding of certain bacteria that you know, it's, if it's in your gut, in small amounts, you're okay.
(12:03):
If it gets into your bloodstream, the immune system has a fit, right? And if zonulin is over released chronically, it will get into your bloodstream.
So what triggers zonulin? We know what zonulin does.
(12:24):
It does it in everybody.
Nobody's the exception.
The two biggest triggers are gluten, specifically g gladin, which is a type of glu a part of gluten.
I'm not gonna talk about that.
Here.
Come do the type two program in people with sa Celiac gluten triggers a big zonulin release, massive.
But even in non celiacs gluten can increase zonulin temporarily, especially if it's especially hard on people if they have a preexisting inflammation or gut issue.
(12:55):
So if you've already got leaky gut and then you dump gluten in, good luck with that.
What else triggers zonulin? So bacterial overgrowth or infection.
So pathogens like salmonella, e coli even bacterial imbalances like sibo can trigger zonulin.
So now when I start mentioning things like e coli and salmon salmonella you know what that entails, right? Water being drawn in and diary and being massively sick.
(13:26):
These also trigger zonulin, which is why, you have the e coli, you have the salmonella triggers.
Zonulin, zonulin releases makes the gut lining more permeable.
And here you go, massive diarrhea.
Everything goes straight through you.
That is because of the massive zonulin release that is, is caused by the, these pathogens.
(13:51):
But gluten two triggers zonulin, just not to the same extent.
Why would the body even have a sonin? Why would it, why would you even, how can this ever be good? Zonulin is, appears to be part of your body's defense mechanism.
So it trying to flush out unwanted mi microbes.
By opening the barrier.
(14:11):
Unfortunately, this really backfires when it's chronic.
So when it happens now and again, so again you've got things like, you've got things like e coli.
Your body wants to get rid of that, so it's gonna open up the junctions.
It's gonna enter the blood and the immune system's gotta go and all hell breaks loose, right? So it has, there's a reason for temporarily doing that.
(14:33):
But what if it's a constant? What if it's chronic? When people eat gluten now and again, I would say I'm in that category.
Show me a bread basket ba, show me a bread basket.
I've never refused a bread basket in my life, right? But I don't on a daily basis have any bread products in the house at all, ever.
(14:55):
I don't even think, I don't even think about it.
They're not even here.
So I eat a little bit of gluten.
I don't know.
I don't, a few times a month I would say, yes, I'm gonna have the sonin.
It's gonna increase onlin, do I know it? No.
Fine.
But what if you're having some sort of gluten product? Every day.
What if you're having it several times a day? What if you're having, oh, you had some toast for breakfast.
(15:19):
Maybe you had that burrito for lunch.
Maybe you're doing tacos or something for dinner.
Maybe you've got the, you see the issue there? Now you're constantly consuming foods that are gonna trigger zonulin.
You don't get a pass.
Nobody gets a pass.
Gluten increases zonulin weakens the gut lining, turns it into, let's say, fishnet stockings.
(15:43):
Now you've got food particles that are not fully digested, getting into your bloodstream.
Now you have bacteria and toxins that are getting into your bloodstream that weren't meant to get into your bloodstream.
And if you've got like LPS, that's really pretty bad and it's getting into your bloodstream and you're creating that environment.
Several times a day, you will have issues.
(16:07):
You will have leaky gut, because that's what soline does.
It creates leaky gut, but it's meant to open it up and shut it back down.
I.
I've proved this so many times.
It's one of the reasons that, in my Type 28 program, I take gluten out.
Gluten is a main irritant.
There are many reasons why people can be sensitive to gluten.
(16:29):
It's not just necessarily gluten itself.
It's which part of gluten is the antibodies of gluten.
It's a whole thing.
But know that every time you consume gluten, you are increasing zonulin and zonulin.
That's what it does.
So if you are consuming a lot of gluten, you can pretty much guarantee that you have leaky gut and that.
(16:52):
Level of leaky gut.
You might have normalized.
You might think, no, I'm fine.
No, you've just normalized it and that is having an immune response.
If you are having an immune response, you are having an inflammatory response.
That's how it works when you trigger the immune system.
One of the ways it acts is by, by triggering an inflammatory response, if you have an inflammatory response that is going to your liver, if that is going to your liver, your elevated risk of insulin resistance, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
(17:29):
Again, an environment in a in a temporary form.
Turned on.
Turned off, not a problem.
Immune system triggered, turned on, turned off.
That's how it's meant to work.
Inflammation turned on, turned off.
That's how it's meant to work.
Any of those systems that are turned on and left on and have this low grade activity are insanely problematic, but they're normalized because you're feeling like that all the time.
(18:04):
First time I took gluten out of Kevin's diet, albeit kicking and screaming.
He lost 15 pounds in 10 days, and it was all in his gut.
His waist shrank.
He didn't lose 15 pounds of fat.
He didn't cut his calories.
I think he was walking down sweet potatoes and rice instead, he lost 15 pounds in 10 days.
(18:25):
That was pure inflammation that he.
Normalized.
He, if you would've asked him, he did not feel bloated.
He did not feel gassy.
He did not want to do it.
15, I think it was 15 pounds and four inches, something like that in 10 days.
That is one of the reasons when people do the T 28 program nobody wants to do this program.
(18:51):
Has the amazing results in the first week because when you take out an irritant like that, and especially you take that sort of irritant out for with somebody where they're consuming quite a lot of gluten and they're doing it because they feel fine, they're not fine.
They can feel better.
And they will feel better.
(19:13):
And once you, once you cut gluten out, once you actually what? It's one thing just telling people don't eat gluten.
That's great.
That's great to do that.
That makes 'em feel good about themselves, right? Or.
You can coach people on gluten, the level of sensitivity because of recent farming and pesticides and things like that.
And you can educate people on gluten and explain the different ways that gluten can be reactive and then explain something like zonulin, we, there is nobody that escapes that.
(19:43):
And people will make better choices all by themselves, like from listening to this podcast.
Maybe you like me and you're thinking I don't eat it that often.
Or I never eat it.
Or maybe you're thinking like, oh wow.
I guess I do eat quite a bit of bread pot and I never thought I had an issue.
You have an issue because you can't not have an issue.
You can't not have an issue because of the zolin that's been being released.
(20:13):
I will stop plugging my programs.
But again, I plug them because I only offer them once a year in a live format.
Oh my gosh, guys, they're all available in the self-study format, but you know how that goes.
Not everybody does all the self study, but in the live format, I'm right there.
And right there to coach and bring calmness and and excitement to this sort of information.
(20:40):
We start July the sixth which I think is ironic 'cause July 4th and there'll be all sorts of gluten going on.
I.
And food colorings.
I get into food colorings.
That's a fascinating one when it comes to gluten.
Gluten and food colorings.
Guys do not mix.
Come and do the type 28 program to find out more.
But for today was about zonulin.
What can you do about zonulin? Can you test it? Yeah.
(21:02):
There are two main ways you can test both zonulin.
It's, you're not gonna get it in your standard blood work.
You have to ask for it.
But you could do a stool test.
So that's gonna measure how much zonulin is being released into your gut lumen.
It gives an insight into local permeability.
It's often included in a GI map or doctor's data panel.
(21:22):
There are also this can do it by blood test.
There's a serum zonulin test and that measures.
Zonulin that's leaked into your bloodstream.
So if you do the blood test, that might suggest a systemic gut barrier disruption, which is often seen in my autoimmune clients or chronic inflammatory conditions.
(21:42):
So share this information again just to really stress Zonulin is very different to a food sensitivity.
I.
It affects everybody.
That's what it does.
It opens up the gut tight junctions.
It's triggered by gluten, bacteria, toxins.
(22:04):
The symptoms are not always obvious, but they are still harmful.
They are the total sort of symptoms that are normalized and people do not realize what's going on.
Reversible absolutely simply by removal, and the results are rapid.
Okay, that's it for Zonulin.
If you're interested in the Type 28 program, just go to type 28, the number 20 eight.com,
(22:28):
and we start real soon.
I do hope you enjoyed this episode of Midlife Mayhem.
Be sure to subscribe and be sure to tell your friends about this wonderful podcast.
If you would like more of me than on social.
(22:49):
It's simple.
Just my name at Joanne Lee Cornish.
Also my website, the shrink shop.com,
where you can see all my coaching programs.
There are many ways we can work together.
Obviously I do private one-on-one coaching.
I do the, all my programs are in a self-study form.
And all my programs are run as a live program at least once a year.
(23:13):
I try and do twice, but it usually ends up being once I have, mindset program.
I have my awesome five JP creek shred that people love.
I have the signature weight loss program.
I have tight 28, which is advanced weight loss.
I have muscle mastery, and I have midlife mastering midlife.
So six programs that offer a progression to fully understand the body composition through the ages.
(23:39):
If you have questions, if you're wondering how I can help you, then simply shoot me an email.
At Joe j@theshrinkshock.com,
tell me what's going on and I'll get back to you and let you know the way I can help.
Okay, that's it for now.
Hey there, listeners.
I am Joanne Lee Cornish, your Truth Bomb Dropper in the world of weight loss, body composition, and mastering the art of rocking the body you've always deserved and dreamed of in midlife and beyond.
Let's cut through the noise.
Society tells us it's downhill from now on.
We're told to embrace the middle age weight gain, embrace the muscle loss, and poor health.
(00:36):
If that's your vibe, then cool.
But if you're ready to defy the narrative, then I am your gal.
This podcast is.
A No Fluff podcast where we break down the essential truths of body composition, toss around some practical tips, and dissect the latest trends.
I'm not here to sugarcoat.
I'm here to show you what's not just possible, but down, out probable for you.
(01:02):
If you enjoy this content, be sure to click the link in the show notes to explore how we can team up and kick Medioc to the curb.
I offer one-on-one coaching my ever popular group coaching programs and my corporate Educate to Elevate program.
Okay, let's get on with the podcast.
Enjoy.
(01:26):
Welcome, welcome to Midlife Mayhem.
Today I want to talk about zonulin with reference to gluten, and I just want to separate.
The confusion between zonulin and a food sensitivity or somebody that's sensitive to gluten, because the reality is zonulin affects everybody.
(01:48):
Whereas gluten does not necessarily affect everyone.
So what on earth is zonulin? So zonulin is a protein, it's made in the small intestine and its job is, it acts as the gatekeeper to our gut lining.
It controls the tight junctions, which are the little seals between the cells of our intestinal wall.
(02:13):
Think about your gut, like a think of your gut lining, like a high security fence.
It's lets nutrients through, but it keeps bacteria, toxins, undigested particles out.
Let's think of a different analogy.
Think of your gut lining, like cheesecloth.
(02:35):
If you pour something over cheesecloth, not everything is gonna get through.
Yeah.
So think of cheesecloth.
These are the tight junctions of your gut lining.
So think about your gut lining.
It separates your intestines with your blood.
So whatever gets through the cheesecloth, whatever gets through your gut lining is going to enter the blood.
(03:02):
So when your gut lining is like cheesecloth.
Then not much enters the blood.
Everything, it drains through big particles are kept in the cheesecake.
The cheesecake, my gosh.
In the cheese cloth.
Only things that have be are so small, have been so digested.
Would actually get through the cheese cloth.
(03:23):
Yeah.
Would get, and therefore get into the, to the blood.
If your gut lining becomes like a pair of fishnet stockings, then everything is gonna get through this fishnet stockings, right? So think about food.
It doesn't have to be completely broken down, so with the cheese cheesecloth, you know this, using this analogy, food has to be completely broken down into the smallest possible form for it to get through the cheesecloth and into your blood.
(03:53):
If it's not fully broken down, it's not gonna get through.
The particle's gonna be too big.
But if your gut lining just turns into fishnet stockings, then when you eat, you don't re, the food doesn't have to be fully digested.
It doesn't have to be fully broken down to get through the fishnet stockings and into the blood.
And also because of those gaps, now you've got toxins and bacteria that should never get into your blood, and they're getting in there and there arises a lot of food sensitivities.
(04:22):
So what does this, what does it have to do with zonulin? Zonulin controls that tight junctions think about when zonulin is released, it opens up those junctions so it turns that cheese, clay, cheesecake, oh my God, I just said it again.
It turns that cheese cloth into fishnet stockings.
(04:42):
Is that analogy working? So it controls the type junctions and and it, it opens up those junctions.
So that's its job.
It's normal.
That's what it that does, that's okay when it is controlled.
But here's where it gets problematic.
When zonulin is chronically or excessively elevated, that gut lining, that barrier stays open too long and things that you, that cheese click turn turns into fishnet stockings.
(05:13):
And things that were never meant to enter your bloodstream start leaking through.
So this is what is referred to as leaky gut or more clinically it is called increased intestinal permeability.
Let's do a little backtrack.
'cause the history of zolin is quite fascinating.
So Zolin was discovered by a doctor, I hope I'm saying this right, CIO ano.
(05:39):
He was a gastroenterologist in the early two thousands Italian, I hope you call that.
And he was studying celiac disease and looking into how gluten triggered inflammation in the gut.
So what he found that G Gladin, which I'm gonna talk about this in the Type 28 program, but he found that G Gladin, which is a component of gluten and sets off celiac reactions, it triggers the release of zonulin.
(06:00):
So zonulin in turn opened the gut wall.
Allowing food, proteins and other antigens into the bloodstream, it turned the cheesecloth into.
Pair of fishnet stockings, and this was the missing leak link in how gluten triggers such widespread immune responses.
(06:22):
So when we talk about immune responses, what we're talking about here is.
So you've got your food, it's being digested.
It meets the cheese cloth and it has to be fully digested.
And anything that's fully digested passes through the cheese cloth and gets into the blood and off it goes.
It travels off to the liver.
If that cheese, the, now the food comes in and she intestines, and that cheese cloth is now fishnet stockings.
(06:47):
Now the food doesn't have to be fully digested and bacteria and toxins, everything can get through into the bloodstream.
And when it enters the bloodstream, there is an immune response because the immune system sees what's getting into the bloodstream and says, what on earth is this? This isn't meant to be here.
And it goes to fight because to battle for you.
(07:08):
And there, so there is an immune response.
So what this doctor, Elise Ano was trying to do, he was trying to figure out why gluten triggered such a widespread immune response.
And what he found was it was because gluten increased zonulin and zonulin.
(07:28):
Turned that cheese clock into fishnet stocking.
So it opened up those, some what are meant to be tight junctions of your gut lining and it opened them up Now.
Here's what he also found.
He found that zonulin isn't just activated by gluten, it can be stimulated by bacteria, tox, toxins, and inflammation.
(07:50):
Meaning that you don't have to have celiac or even a gluten issue to have a zonulin problem.
So that's a big deal, guys.
'cause when we hear about gluten sensitivity and some people say, oh, that doesn't affect me.
That's not me.
I'm perfectly good.
Gluten increases zonulin.
(08:12):
Zonulin isn't random.
Zonulin affects.
Everybody.
It's not that some people are prone to a food sensitivity of this sort or that sort, zonulin it by nature has this effect of opening up the tight junctions of the gut lining.
So you don't have to have a gluten issue to have an issue with zonulin.
(08:38):
So it's not a sensitivity, it's it's a universal mechanism.
This is important to understand that zonulin is not a sensitivity.
It's not like gluten or dairy or soy, where some people react and some don't.
Zonulin is a protein that functions the same way in every one.
When it is released, it loosens the gut lining period, and gluten increases zonulin, period.
(09:11):
It is not whether you feel it or not, the effect is biological.
It's not subjective.
Whether you're a bodybuilder, neuro agram, or a teenager.
When zonulin goes up, your intestinal barrier will become more permeable.
That's completely different to a food sensitivity, which involves, an individualized, personalized immune response.
(09:36):
Some people might be sensitive to eggs or some people might be sensitive to dairy, some might not.
But zonulin affects all humans in the same mechanical way.
It opens the gate and if you open, when you open the gut lining, turning it into, fishnet stockings.
Things will enter the blood that aren't meant to enter the blood.
(09:58):
And when that happens, you will have an immune response enter LPS.
So LPS is something that I haven't talked about before.
I'm gonna expand on it in the Type 28 program, which starts Jive sixth.
It's gonna be nice once I've finished my MasterStream with Life program.
I won't have to plug anything in any of these podcasts for a while, so bear with me.
(10:23):
So here's what is, here's we go we take things to the next level.
So when zonulin opens the gut barrier, one of the major offenders that can sneak into the bloodstream is LPS lipopolysaccharide.
LPS is a toxin released by gram negative bacteria.
(10:44):
So gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that normally live in your gut, totally normal in small amount, but when LPS crosses into your bloodstream, your immune system goes into full decon one mode.
It goes.
Off your immune system sees LPS as a foreign invader of the worst type, and it responds with massive inflammation, oxidative stress, and massive immune activation.
(11:18):
Even if you're not technically sick this is known as metabolic toxemia and it's linked to insulin resistance, chronic fatigue, brain fog, autoimmune flares, mood disorders, skin problems, and yes, gut systems of symptoms like bloating, gas, and cramps.
So while.
Zonulin isn't necessarily dangerous by itself.
(11:41):
It sets the stage for these bad actors like LPS get into places they shouldn't be.
LPS should not get into your blood.
In the Type 28 program, I talk about LPS with regards to body composition, but for now, just know it's the outer coding of certain bacteria that you know, it's, if it's in your gut, in small amounts, you're okay.
(12:03):
If it gets into your bloodstream, the immune system has a fit, right? And if zonulin is over released chronically, it will get into your bloodstream.
So what triggers zonulin? We know what zonulin does.
(12:24):
It does it in everybody.
Nobody's the exception.
The two biggest triggers are gluten, specifically g gladin, which is a type of glu a part of gluten.
I'm not gonna talk about that.
Here.
Come do the type two program in people with sa Celiac gluten triggers a big zonulin release, massive.
But even in non celiacs gluten can increase zonulin temporarily, especially if it's especially hard on people if they have a preexisting inflammation or gut issue.
(12:55):
So if you've already got leaky gut and then you dump gluten in, good luck with that.
What else triggers zonulin? So bacterial overgrowth or infection.
So pathogens like salmonella, e coli even bacterial imbalances like sibo can trigger zonulin.
So now when I start mentioning things like e coli and salmon salmonella you know what that entails, right? Water being drawn in and diary and being massively sick.
(13:26):
These also trigger zonulin, which is why, you have the e coli, you have the salmonella triggers.
Zonulin, zonulin releases makes the gut lining more permeable.
And here you go, massive diarrhea.
Everything goes straight through you.
That is because of the massive zonulin release that is, is caused by the, these pathogens.
(13:51):
But gluten two triggers zonulin, just not to the same extent.
Why would the body even have a sonin? Why would it, why would you even, how can this ever be good? Zonulin is, appears to be part of your body's defense mechanism.
So it trying to flush out unwanted mi microbes.
By opening the barrier.
(14:11):
Unfortunately, this really backfires when it's chronic.
So when it happens now and again, so again you've got things like, you've got things like e coli.
Your body wants to get rid of that, so it's gonna open up the junctions.
It's gonna enter the blood and the immune system's gotta go and all hell breaks loose, right? So it has, there's a reason for temporarily doing that.
(14:33):
But what if it's a constant? What if it's chronic? When people eat gluten now and again, I would say I'm in that category.
Show me a bread basket ba, show me a bread basket.
I've never refused a bread basket in my life, right? But I don't on a daily basis have any bread products in the house at all, ever.
(14:55):
I don't even think, I don't even think about it.
They're not even here.
So I eat a little bit of gluten.
I don't know.
I don't, a few times a month I would say, yes, I'm gonna have the sonin.
It's gonna increase onlin, do I know it? No.
Fine.
But what if you're having some sort of gluten product? Every day.
What if you're having it several times a day? What if you're having, oh, you had some toast for breakfast.
(15:19):
Maybe you had that burrito for lunch.
Maybe you're doing tacos or something for dinner.
Maybe you've got the, you see the issue there? Now you're constantly consuming foods that are gonna trigger zonulin.
You don't get a pass.
Nobody gets a pass.
Gluten increases zonulin weakens the gut lining, turns it into, let's say, fishnet stockings.
(15:43):
Now you've got food particles that are not fully digested, getting into your bloodstream.
Now you have bacteria and toxins that are getting into your bloodstream that weren't meant to get into your bloodstream.
And if you've got like LPS, that's really pretty bad and it's getting into your bloodstream and you're creating that environment.
Several times a day, you will have issues.
(16:07):
You will have leaky gut, because that's what soline does.
It creates leaky gut, but it's meant to open it up and shut it back down.
I.
I've proved this so many times.
It's one of the reasons that, in my Type 28 program, I take gluten out.
Gluten is a main irritant.
There are many reasons why people can be sensitive to gluten.
(16:29):
It's not just necessarily gluten itself.
It's which part of gluten is the antibodies of gluten.
It's a whole thing.
But know that every time you consume gluten, you are increasing zonulin and zonulin.
That's what it does.
So if you are consuming a lot of gluten, you can pretty much guarantee that you have leaky gut and that.
(16:52):
Level of leaky gut.
You might have normalized.
You might think, no, I'm fine.
No, you've just normalized it and that is having an immune response.
If you are having an immune response, you are having an inflammatory response.
That's how it works when you trigger the immune system.
One of the ways it acts is by, by triggering an inflammatory response, if you have an inflammatory response that is going to your liver, if that is going to your liver, your elevated risk of insulin resistance, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
(17:29):
Again, an environment in a in a temporary form.
Turned on.
Turned off, not a problem.
Immune system triggered, turned on, turned off.
That's how it's meant to work.
Inflammation turned on, turned off.
That's how it's meant to work.
Any of those systems that are turned on and left on and have this low grade activity are insanely problematic, but they're normalized because you're feeling like that all the time.
(18:04):
First time I took gluten out of Kevin's diet, albeit kicking and screaming.
He lost 15 pounds in 10 days, and it was all in his gut.
His waist shrank.
He didn't lose 15 pounds of fat.
He didn't cut his calories.
I think he was walking down sweet potatoes and rice instead, he lost 15 pounds in 10 days.
(18:25):
That was pure inflammation that he.
Normalized.
He, if you would've asked him, he did not feel bloated.
He did not feel gassy.
He did not want to do it.
15, I think it was 15 pounds and four inches, something like that in 10 days.
That is one of the reasons when people do the T 28 program nobody wants to do this program.
(18:51):
Has the amazing results in the first week because when you take out an irritant like that, and especially you take that sort of irritant out for with somebody where they're consuming quite a lot of gluten and they're doing it because they feel fine, they're not fine.
They can feel better.
And they will feel better.
(19:13):
And once you, once you cut gluten out, once you actually what? It's one thing just telling people don't eat gluten.
That's great.
That's great to do that.
That makes 'em feel good about themselves, right? Or.
You can coach people on gluten, the level of sensitivity because of recent farming and pesticides and things like that.
And you can educate people on gluten and explain the different ways that gluten can be reactive and then explain something like zonulin, we, there is nobody that escapes that.
(19:43):
And people will make better choices all by themselves, like from listening to this podcast.
Maybe you like me and you're thinking I don't eat it that often.
Or I never eat it.
Or maybe you're thinking like, oh wow.
I guess I do eat quite a bit of bread pot and I never thought I had an issue.
You have an issue because you can't not have an issue.
You can't not have an issue because of the zolin that's been being released.
(20:13):
I will stop plugging my programs.
But again, I plug them because I only offer them once a year in a live format.
Oh my gosh, guys, they're all available in the self-study format, but you know how that goes.
Not everybody does all the self study, but in the live format, I'm right there.
And right there to coach and bring calmness and and excitement to this sort of information.
(20:40):
We start July the sixth which I think is ironic 'cause July 4th and there'll be all sorts of gluten going on.
I.
And food colorings.
I get into food colorings.
That's a fascinating one when it comes to gluten.
Gluten and food colorings.
Guys do not mix.
Come and do the type 28 program to find out more.
But for today was about zonulin.
What can you do about zonulin? Can you test it? Yeah.
(21:02):
There are two main ways you can test both zonulin.
It's, you're not gonna get it in your standard blood work.
You have to ask for it.
But you could do a stool test.
So that's gonna measure how much zonulin is being released into your gut lumen.
It gives an insight into local permeability.
It's often included in a GI map or doctor's data panel.
(21:22):
There are also this can do it by blood test.
There's a serum zonulin test and that measures.
Zonulin that's leaked into your bloodstream.
So if you do the blood test, that might suggest a systemic gut barrier disruption, which is often seen in my autoimmune clients or chronic inflammatory conditions.
(21:42):
So share this information again just to really stress Zonulin is very different to a food sensitivity.
I.
It affects everybody.
That's what it does.
It opens up the gut tight junctions.
It's triggered by gluten, bacteria, toxins.
(22:04):
The symptoms are not always obvious, but they are still harmful.
They are the total sort of symptoms that are normalized and people do not realize what's going on.
Reversible absolutely simply by removal, and the results are rapid.
Okay, that's it for Zonulin.
If you're interested in the Type 28 program, just go to type 28, the number 20 eight.com,
(22:28):
and we start real soon.
I do hope you enjoyed this episode of Midlife Mayhem.
Be sure to subscribe and be sure to tell your friends about this wonderful podcast.
If you would like more of me than on social.
(22:49):
It's simple.
Just my name at Joanne Lee Cornish.
Also my website, the shrink shop.com,
where you can see all my coaching programs.
There are many ways we can work together.
Obviously I do private one-on-one coaching.
I do the, all my programs are in a self-study form.
And all my programs are run as a live program at least once a year.
(23:13):
I try and do twice, but it usually ends up being once I have, mindset program.
I have my awesome five JP creek shred that people love.
I have the signature weight loss program.
I have tight 28, which is advanced weight loss.
I have muscle mastery, and I have midlife mastering midlife.
So six programs that offer a progression to fully understand the body composition through the ages.
(23:39):
If you have questions, if you're wondering how I can help you, then simply shoot me an email.
At Joe j@theshrinkshock.com,
tell me what's going on and I'll get back to you and let you know the way I can help.
Okay, that's it for now.
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